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YouTube Stardom Takes Work

So you think scores of people can become famous because of the Internet? Well, they can. Hollywood, network execs, and station owners no longer exclusively control what content is seen by audiences.

YouTube gives everyone the freedom to distribute compelling, informative, and silly videos. I tried my hand at it for a class project and learned that even a 3-minute campy short involves trial and error, hours of work, perseverance, and patience.

Memphis’ most recent ice storm was covered by thousands of local Memphians through social networks. Yet, Twitter housed a groundswell of comedic-laced posts via #MEMICE. Thus, I scavenged for content.

Next, I storyboarded the most descriptive tweets and carefully cast the roles to ensure that the personality of each tweet would come to life. I must brag: My friends are AWESOME! They routinely expect me to drag them into projects and events, yet this was the first time some had ever acted. (I’m more than proud.)

The low-fidelity props and background cost $18 and served as a nice juxtaposition for this hashtag-inspired short. Give the actors their lines and winter-weather gear, and you’ll get two hysterical hours of filming take after take.

With limited seconds, the intro (and subsequently, the credits) needed to convey quite a bit of information in order to provide context to the viewer. I envisioned a movie-trailer theme and turned to Fiverr, a comprehensive market place that let’s you buy just about any creative service for $5. (Think personalized online singing telegrams.) I hired Jordan, a voiceover pro, and he turned around the job the next morning.

To complete the video, I filmed some campy B-roll of toy cars, a hand-drawn background, and paper punches to mimic the weather’s toll on the city. The tools? (Apple could have sponsored this project.) Filming was done on an iPhone 5 and editing was completed in iMovie using a MacBook Pro. (Mindy McAdams offers solid tips.)

Finally, it was time to upload to the MemphisMaverick channel and promote the video. Thankfully, the persons featured were flattered (and not offended). They graciously forwarded the video to their networks, and it spread to those that I do not personally know. Here’s a Storify outlining reactions to the video by key influencers.

In all, 20 hours (see graph below) were spent on a 3-minute movie. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Will I try it again? Definitely…but maybe this summer.